New Deal and Flexible New Deal Exposed

Totally agree , i was sanctioned for 1 week for failing to attend a weekly interview, i was sick and phoned my advisor but she denied my call . I said i was going to appeal and complain. Now my JS has been cancelled along with housing and coucil tax benefit. Have to go in next week to make a rapid reclaim. Had no money for 3 weeks. The advisors have way to much power and are able to allow their personal feelings to dictate the service you recieve. I thought we lived in a democratic society feels more like a dictatership.

Like or Dislike: 0  0

Dave, Assuming your jobcnentre was already aware that you lived in a non-secure address prior to the Calder letter you should be okay.

After all, if the jobcentre failed to notify Calder that your address was insecure then it is not your fault but the jobcentre’s.

I once lived in a non secure address which meant I had to go to the jobcentre to collect my fortnightly giro as I wasn’t able to provide an alternative safe address for it to be sent to.

Good luck

Like or Dislike: 0  0

I used your information on sanctions for a first offence and was told by my local jobcentre that this information was totally incorrect. Maybe you should update this site with new up to date info so that people dont look stupid when they try to defend them selves with incorrect information.

Having recently started with Calder UK Ltd in Holloway Road, North London, I would like to check out the legality of a sanction imposed before I even started this ‘course’.

My details were submitted to Colder and they then wrote to me to invite me to an assessment. Due to the fact that my address is classed as non-secure, due to thieving neighbours, and having to share a communal mail box. Needless to say that this was not recieved. I contacted the local Jobcentreplus office to alert them to this. They then advised me to contact Colder direct. This I did only to be told that I was to be sanctioned. This was then followed up by Colder writing to me AGAIN instead of using e-mail or contacting my mobile. They then stated that Colder did not have these details. I then proved them wrong and as such have been told that my appeal could take up to 6mths to process.

Having read your article on the sanctions protocols I will keep you updated as to when and indeed if, I get my two weeks benefit repaid.

I have e-mailed Colder in respect of this and to date they have not had the common courtesy let alone decency to respond. I won’t hold my breath.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks

Dave

Like or Dislike: 0  0

I’m about to start one of these courses today after being on the dole for 18 months. It’s going to be quite funny actually cause I know it’s all bullshit designed to make you accept anything. Being a diabetic though, I quite intend to do injections and blood-tests in full-view of the whole class, at criticical moments in the bullshit presentations. I haven’t got a fucking clue how long I’ll be on this wank for, as the whole thing is shrouded in mystery, but I’m sure if the pressure becomes to great, I can have the odd hypoglycemic attack which can send me to hospital for the day, where the company’s better and you get your own tv.

I’m glad I’m not a NEET.

Like or Dislike: 0  0

I have been on JSA for 34 weeks. For the 1st 26 weeks I recieved the NI based benefit of £70 pw. However I do not receive any benefits now as my wife earns around 25K. I have mortgage protection ins for which I get an AB1I form every 4 weeks. My father in law has offered to pay for a holiday abroad for 2 weeks. Although I will be abroad I can still be activley seeking work using the internet, although I will not be immediately available for work. What are the rules in this situation? Will I need to sign off then on again or is there another way around this?

I started on flexible new deal last december and had to go to a training centre once a fortnight for the first twenty weeks. Then they sent me onto another training centre 200yards down the road to complete 12weeks. I was asked to attend roughly once a fortnight and then for the last four weeks had to complete a mandatory four week work experience. This was in the admin section of the training company where five of us were hanging around most of the time as they didn’t have enough work for one person. Now I will be moved onto another provider in the next few weeks to complete another 20 weeks and I’m told that I will have to attend roughly once a week. The worst part of it so far has been the switch to a training allowance from jobseekers allowance and now that I’ve finished my mandatory work experience I have to hand in a housing benefit form as my housing benefit has been suspended because of the switch. I received my p45u before I started the four week mandatory work experience so the government unemployment figures didn’t include me for four weeks.

Well you could appeal gemini a good way to waste their time and money. And as you got your proof and you have got aswthe side of you so many times it might just stand you in good stead nothing ventured nothing gained. I would also complain to your local mp

Like or Dislike: 0  0

Perhaps this is actually an alternative option for workfare?

Scrap Work for Your Benefit scheme… and lower the NMW to those who have been unemployed for a while and where the employer promises training. No doubt, this training stuff be linked directly to Work Programme provider/Jobcentre Plus so you are sanctioned if you refuse (up to 3 years!).

Like or Dislike: 0  0

Thank you for sharing. So many factual accounts of peoples poor experience I hear of these days regarding the Jobcentre and its Partners.

The Jobseekers Act 1995 requires you to produce evidence of what you have been doing to look for work. This can be produced verbally and doesn’t need to be via a “job log”. All verbal instructions provided by you should be accepted by Jobcentre Plus and perhaps even logged down on the system. If they feel that actually. they think you are lying and potentially not Actively Seeking Employment they can request further in depth evidence such as a copy of your covering letter, email delivery receipts or replies, any invite to interview letter or rejection letter etc.

You are absolutely right – sanctions are unlawful… (see the campaign: http://www.unlawfulsanctions.org.uk/ ) and are there to save money. Apparently if you believe the Government about 14% of all income goes on welfare… just imagine what the real amount would have been without benefit sanctions and the bullying etc. that goes on. 25% I think would be a more realistic figure.

If you believe that violence is the solution avoid showing your cards (i.e. dont make threats), dont do criminal damage to Jobcentre Plus (everyone becomes a victim to it and all the unemployed will get a poor name because of it) and simply make any attack of the individual staff member outside of work time when unexpected. Its karma, only a certain amount of their activities they can get away with before it catches up with them. Likewise, the same applies to you and everyone else, leaving out the moral aspects for now…. commit a crime and you could get a criminal record which could ensure you having to attend that place much longer or forever without employment (which is what we all want… a job!) and in the worst case scenario might end up getting attacked in jail.

Out of curiosity, do they request your job log or do they ask what you have been doing to look for work?

Like or Dislike: 0  0

Looking for a job is an on-going activity for an unemployed person, and has nothing to do with the pointless waste of time called new deal.

Like or Dislike: 0  0

Hi there,

I would like to spend a while telling you my story about my local job centre.

As you can imagine, I am here at the site for a reason, google pointed me in this direction after searching sanctions.

I am 24 years old, determined, motivated, and never let the JC make me angry no matter how frustrated I get with them.

I have been in and out of the JC for approx 3 years, and once before I had a fraud complaint on my name by Mark the security guard who was a total ass, but I love Karma and everyday I see this wasteman spending his pennies at the local bookies, thats right folks, he got what was coming to him, not only that I found out he got sued because someone took him to court for racism.

Muahhaha, stupid little man.

Anyway, I walk into JC today say hello to everyone, because thats they kind of guy I am, I like to stay positive and keep it sweet with them, I know this is the best way, stay keen and keep it clean.

I have been signed on for 6 months now, and for the first time I saw a lady I have never seen before, last week I went to a 1 hour work trial for a job I have been offered.

I have been looking for work still and have had no problems, I go to get my JSA kit, and lo and behold I have gone and left my job log on the table at home.

I explain this to the lady, she pulls out some forms and tells me I have to fill them in. Im like “whoa”, I have anything up to 5 days to sign on right, and she agrees with me, I told her that I will quickly run back home and get the job log.

She tells me its too late and that my job seekers has been sanctioned, at this point Im confused, Im annoyed and starting to get frustrated.

I ask to speak to a manager and explain to her that on the 2nd of August I am starting work and need this money, she tells me there is nothing she can do.

I call over the other manager who was there, explain the situation and he tells me to work it out with the floor mananger.

I am getting no where with this advisor, she was evil! I get on the phone and ring up good old happy Shitford, I mean stratford, they tell me that no sanction has been put on my account.

At this point I gathered from my intution that this evil witch make a wrong assumption and way to quickly, as after I told her I needed to the money to get to my new found job, she kept apologising and saying how sorry she was.

I would love to know if once the Doubt has been raised if there is anyway for the people at the JobCentre to remove it.

After all I did have my log forms when I came back in the evening.

I was told to wait upstairs to speak to the advisor again, but after making a complaint to the floor manager, I told her I wanted to see someone else as she was providing me with inaccurate advice, the manager told me she was doing her job properly and was very assumptious.

I told her she was a bad manager for not taking into account my complaint and for the lack of due dilligence in training her staff properly, lucky for me this rat was the same rat I lost my temper with last time when they put me on fraud, and she tells me I should not have spoken to my advisor ao argumentively, I just laughed in her face for making such an ignorant comment.

She left and I was told to go downstairs, thinking this was going to be a good step in the right direction.

The manager was there and immediately started to accuse me, saying I got angry and was swearing, believe me I have not lost my temper for many years as I now know that loosing your temper is a sign of weakness.

She was terribly rude, she had something to hide, she was lying about everything she was saying, and I even said to her with my finger in her ugly face “You have never been unemployed have you?”, she says I have worked for 23 years, at this point I told her that ignorance is bliss and what goes around comes around, I looked her in the face with the most powerful stance “My mum worked as a legal secretary for 26 years and was made redundant, one day you will too” and when you need help, you will look yourself in the eyes and feel the pain.

They sanctioned me just before I am about to start work, leaving me unable to go to work, they have told me that have doubts I was not looking for work, despite me giving them a job log, and they also contact my employer more than I feel comfortable with, which they will be doing again.

They are refusing me social benefits, they are preventing me from starting my job, I dont know what to do but “threaten them that I will smash the place up” which I wont, but am tempted to.

I was forced to sign the 2 sheets of paper that was given to me for the sanction which I had to ask many questions on, today at 10 was my sign on time, I had everything with me by the evening and they were refusing to sign me on as normal, they told me that I had to complete the forms as they had already commenced this “doubt” action.

Its a joke, its a shambles, its terrible, its what drives me to change my life to help people.

I am truly disgraced by the people who work for this company, this is not the government, we are the government, its people who corrupt the government who are the problem, its the fraudsters, and I dont mean the petty frauds, I mean the big time fraudsters from inside.

This is not a matter of lawful acts, its a matter of whether they like you in there or not, being the loud mouth sod I am who likes to stand up for my rights, they dont like it.

As pissed off as I am, I still made them looking pathetic, one manager was feeling the wrath of my mental ability and begun to shake with fear, her crusty mouth started to dry up and I was feeling good.

This new sanction, is a nice way to select a portion of people, and just cut back on payments more easier.

If you reply or want to comment back, poster feel free to email me with my address, but do not make it public.

Blessings

Like or Dislike: 0  0

Well yesterday, I was told by a so called charity beaconcentre4theblind that basically i should stop whining other people are much worse off than me and they don’t complain as much as you. You shouldn’t be on jsa your on it voluntary nobody is making you take the money.

I pointed out to them about depression and that th new esa effectively means i wont get any help. their attitude was if you dont like it get out of the f’ing kitchen

Like or Dislike: 0  0

I work in the JC and I wouldn’t sanction people as I value my life outside work. Sleeping easy is important to me

Like or Dislike: 0  0